1. Field
Aspects relate to a method of producing a decorative component which is used in vehicle interiors. Aspects further relate to an interior component for a vehicle.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Various methods can be employed for the production of a substrate laminated with a flexible material layer. In the art, a distinction is made primarily between vacuum laminating (also termed film laminating) and press laminating.
In vacuum laminating, a flexible material layer, such as a plastic film, is typically laminated onto a substrate by the application of a vacuum. A vacuum laminating process uses a laminating mold in which the material layer is arranged at a specific distance above the substrate. The material layer is then applied onto the substrate by evacuating the mold. Textiles or open-pored foam materials are generally considered unsuitable for being laminable by the application of a vacuum due to their porous surface structure.
Press laminating is generally used for processing flexible material layers which may be unsuitable for vacuum laminating, such as open-pored foam materials and textiles, or for material layers which cannot be stretched or can only be stretched to a limited extent, such as leather or synthetic leather. For such materials, the substrate and the material layer, which are inserted in the mold, are pressed together or joined in a predefined pressing gap.
Compared to vacuum laminating, press laminating is generally a more expensive and more laborious method. In press laminating, the mold must be adapted for the particular thickness of the layers that are to be laminated. In contrast, vacuum laminating does not depend on the thickness of the material layers being laminated.
For upscale trim versions of vehicle interior components, which may include, for example, spacer fabrics as the haptic layer and leather or synthetic leather as the decorative layer, the composite of decorative and haptic layers is conventionally press laminated onto the substrate. If leather or leather-like materials are used as decor, the decor is typically in the form of a sewn covering which is bonded to a haptic layer specially adapted to the decor and the seams, which is then laminated onto the substrate. Therefore, for the upscale trim versions, the manufacture of an interior part is particularly laborious because it becomes necessary in each case to adapt intermediate layers, and even the substrate if necessary, to the decors of different trim versions. Additionally, the thicknesses of the various layers of the decorative part must be adapted to each other in each trim version in such a way that ensures the quality in their installed situation, particularly regarding compliance with gap measurements.
Against this background, an object of the present invention is to manufacture an interior component for a vehicle interior, particularly in upscale trim versions, more easily and inexpensively and with uniform quality.